this has been a bad week for unions and while many conservatives are rejoicing claiming the end of unions in america, for those of us on the other side there is still hope. from every defeat, there can emerge a reenergize and reinvigorated effort. the question remains where now for america's union movement? joining me now to have the conversation is the president of the american federation of teachers, a great friend, randi weingarten. >> it is great to be here. >> eliot: what happened in michigan is destructive. it is bad. it is based upon false information. but it does reflect an unfortunate reality which is that the heart and soul of the public is no longer behind the union movement the way it used to be. how do we change that? >> well, number one we have to get to a point where community -- our communities -- our neighbors see that unions are a proxy for actually getting to the middle class. not simply rhetorically fighting for the middle class but getting to the middle class. what has happened is the middle class has taken it on the chin for the last two decades. wages have been stag